The Evolving Role of a Tester
in a "AI All the Things!" World.
About Topic
Experienced testers have found a method to apply their most distinctive skills in order to differentiate themselves from others, and provide value to their organizations. This typically comes from having observed years of failures and near failures, and adapting their senses and critical thinking to observe, analyze and manage uncertainty in projects in ways that others cannot. This applies to both testers focusing on instrumentation, as well as those more focused on exploratory or tactical direct testing. And… as companies integrate large language models and agentic AI more and more into their previously better defined product expectations, heuristics and sources of truth are harder to come by. Identifying how a system truly behaves involves faster iterations of change, and often in areas of the product that a tester cannot easily access how decisions are made.
How does a tester remain valuable today, AND continuously adapt to what is coming next week? Or tomorrow? What does their role look like, and where should testers be spending their time to ensure their value does not diminish? Let’s talk about it.
Key Takeaways
- A breakdown of opportunities in companies expanding into AI
- Some key approaches on how to adapt and help highlight a tester’s value to a company approaching GenAI for the first time
About Speaker
Bil Matthews is a seasoned Technical Lead with extensive experience in software and quality engineering, now spearheading AI/ML projects across Computer Vision, NLP, and Large Language Models (LLMs). Holding a 1st Class Honours MSc in Artificial Intelligence, he specializes in developing responsible, safe AI systems and delivering product-ready solutions. Known for his leadership, technical expertise, and pragmatic problem-solving, Bil is a trusted advisor to clients navigating complex AI challenges.
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